Dear teachers, please explain the following to me:
Is should used as a past form of shall? If so in what conditions?
I have heard that the past form of will or shall is would. But some teachers say that the past form of shall is should.
Hello, no one wants to answer me?
As far I as know the past tense for the modal verbs, such as Shall, Should and Would, is formed by adding “have”
“You shall have gone earlier”
“She should have come earlier”
“They would have told me if they had known”
These three examples are in the past tense.
God Bless you.
Cisco.
Shall is used for a direct command from a person or statement, nowadays mainly in legal situations and documents. In past times it was also used more often in social situations.
Shall is also a suggestion.
The company shall ensure that all articles of association are submitted to companies house upon application.
Shall we go to the cinema tonight.
“should have” can be used in some situations, but the problem is that then the sentence would have the implication that the act did not happen.
The company should have ensured that all articles of association were submitted to companies house upon application.
We should have gone to the cinema.
Hi Nageen,
It is difficult to say what the past form of ‘shall’ or ‘will’ is. In reported speech: I will come becomes: He said he would come. But this isn’t really the past form, it is simply a word indicating in indirect speech what the intention/wish was of the original speaker. As the modals ‘will’ and ‘shall’ are primarily used to indicate a future idea, it really doesn’t make sense to try to put them into the past. The construction ‘will/shall have gone’ is used to express the future perfect.
Alan